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Hey guys. I plan on regularly uploading to Youtube. I am an HIV positive man living in MA. The HIV/AIDS virus will be the main focus of my videos. Please take what you can from my videos and don't be afraid to contact me! I would be happy to meet more people in my boat.

His reported life experiences are NOT possible given his age. Its bull crap. Maybe he means well or maybe he is reading someone elses script. Maybe its a college freshman video project. Its in bad taste and he doesn't seem stupid, just pretty naive about HIV/AIDS.

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“From each, according to his ability; to each, according to his need” 1875 K Marx

"I have tried hard--but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person. I can hardly be said to have an independent existence. I was just a screw or a cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else."

Well all I can say Matty is he looks nothing like the patients I nursed through their full blown Aides period, they could hardly breath let alone talk, he looks too healthy, his eyes are too bright, he does have a nasty cough though...but from where I'm standing that's all he has.

If what Mecch says is right and it turns out to be a college project then I agree it's in extremely bad taste.

he looks too healthy, his eyes are too bright, he does have a nasty cough though

could he perhaps just be a whiny little 19 yr old with HIV and a touch of flu or bronchitis? we do know that he likes a bit of the drama by labeling this "I'm dying" yet insisting 3 or 4 times in the vid that he's not dying, just sick. Goodness, he hasn't even gone to the doctor yet (but he's thinking about going to the ER sometime )

He mentions that the "pills" make him feel like crap all the time, but he never mentions what line of treatment he's following. He never mentions CD4 or VL either.

This is Dramatic Arts 101.

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"I have tried hard--but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person. I can hardly be said to have an independent existence. I was just a screw or a cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else."

people of any age could be HIV positive i think the give away is that he'd likely have to have been positive for quite some time and he would have dropped all the stereotyped language and phrases that date to pretty much before he was born. And then - "watching friends wither away and die of this disease" - that's the clincher. Really, highly unlikely a young man his age has experienced that.

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“From each, according to his ability; to each, according to his need” 1875 K Marx

I can't believe you people are dissecting all of this. I watched 15 seconds of one clip and filed it away under "BS"

Agreed. But I have you beat at 13 seconds.

I'm 23 years old and do not have full blown aids. Can I still make videos? I promise I'll wear shades, that'll keep me all incognito like. It'll be like Hannah Montana. No one EVER know the difference.

I'm 23 years old and do not have full blown aids. Can I still make videos? I promise I'll wear shades, that'll keep me all incognito like. It'll be like Hannah Montana. No one EVER know the difference.

Please do. Become the new fabulous face of AIDS. The last person who claimed to be that did not get much of the popular vote.

Oh, and I correct myself... Mr. Optimistic says in one of his replies to the "I'm hacking multiple loogies, therefore Lady Death is coming" video that "Kaletra is how he rolls." Is that dope or what?

Hmpff. Moving on...

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"I have tried hard--but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person. I can hardly be said to have an independent existence. I was just a screw or a cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else."

You should be asking, "Where did you learn Engilsh?". It was rarely used where I grew up, well properly anyways, Hence my constant battles with verb/word agreement and run-on sentences.

Don't blame it on the Opa Locka school system.

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"I have tried hard--but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person. I can hardly be said to have an independent existence. I was just a screw or a cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else."

Why do some of you think this guy is full of shit? I've watched about 4 videos so far, I found him offering advice on safe sex, HIV is NOT a hoax, discrimination, etc. I like this guy so far--unless I just haven't watched something yet that shows different.

He got HIV at 17 and is now 19. Maybe his body just hasn't reacted the same as others--some progress quickly. He said he knew 3 people who died. That is very possible even at his age. I watched someone dying when I was 16. My brother's partner's uncle recently died of AIDS--due to no treatment. He does seem very sad to me. He is obviously reaching out to others. I kinda think he's probably lonely although he mentions having people in his life. In some of the videos, he is very antsy--don't know if he's very nervous, has ADHD, side-effects from meds, or street drugs.

So far, I think his videos can be very helpful to many--especially very young people like him.

EDIT: I watched another video where he did say his shifting around was due to drugs. I watched another where he talks about coming out of the closet about HIV to reduce the stigma and stereotypes. If he's lying, I still think he could help many young people and isn't doing anything to hurt. I don't see why he would lie about HIV. I think he could find something else to get attention.

Why do some of you think this guy is full of shit? I've watched about 4 videos so far, I found him offering advice on safe sex, HIV is NOT a hoax, discrimination, etc. I like this guy so far--unless I just haven't watched something yet that shows different.

Yeah maybe you are correct. I watched a few more videos and I was wrong the kid is positive. Or its some pathological craziness if he isnt - in fact he does a video about NOT being a poseur (faker).

Some of his information is kind of screwed up but OK. He even says he isnt an expert.

Its interesting that he makes these videos when hes high - does that give him the courage to do it? The downside is that they suffer a bit for the rambling. Some of his videos are offensive and misleading. Hes a drama queen but a lot of guys his age are too, so... I dunno.

« Last Edit: March 30, 2010, 09:32:49 AM by mecch »

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“From each, according to his ability; to each, according to his need” 1875 K Marx

I suspect he's full of shit, but I could be wrong. Does he trigger a high reading on anyone else's Crap-O-Meter?

MtD

Does everyone with "full blown AIDS" die imminently? I've probably been infected since December, 1981 and progressed to AIDS in October, 2004 simply because my CD4 count sank below 200. I look as healthy as a (chubby) horse. Everyone with AIDS looks moribund?

19 year old kids aren't contracting HIV? You've never known anyone whose first HIV test occurred while they were sick with some OI? Never heard of people who get the "fast-track" AIDS kit and go from seroconversion to full blown illness in atypically short periods?

From some of the responses in this thread it seems not only the uninfected/unaffected are ignorant about what HIV infection is.

Sure he may be full of it but after looking at 3 of his posts I didn't think that. As someone else said even if he isn't poz what he's saying is valid. He even goes after a denialist (ot-nay tay-eay). I prefer a realistic neg kid posing as poz over the tons of idiots posting denialist crap.

« Last Edit: March 30, 2010, 11:17:05 AM by Boo Radley »

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String up every aristocrat!Out with the priests and let them live on their fat!

Hey guys. I plan on regularly uploading to Youtube. I am an HIV positive man living in MA. The HIV/AIDS virus will be the main focus of my videos. Please take what you can from my videos and don't be afraid to contact me! I would be happy to meet more people in my boat.

I suspect he's full of shit, but I could be wrong. Does he trigger a high reading on anyone else's Crap-O-Meter?

MtD

He sounds real and angry about being HIV. I believe him and I hope he will reach alot of people and get the message out about unsafe sex. With that said, I do believe that he is not well informed about what it means to be positive and that it is not a death sentence. Afterall, he is just a kid and now found his way to deal with his unexpected situation. By the way, has anyone invited him to the forum???

I like this guy. Somethings he does and says I don't agree with, but I support him. He is a bit of a drama queen. He catches a cold and blames it on his HIV infection. We don't need to see him coughing into the camera. There is a correction that needs to be made. He doesn't have AIDS. But it isn't impossible for a 19 year old to have AIDS. All they need to qualify is a positive antibody test and something as simple as thrush.

I like this guy. Somethings he does and says I don't agree with, but I support him. He is a bit of a drama queen. He catches a cold and blames it on his HIV infection. We don't need to see him coughing into the camera. There is a correction that needs to be made. He doesn't have AIDS. But it isn't impossible for a 19 year old to have AIDS. All they need to qualify is a positive antibody test and something as simple as thrush.

Etbay, read the leassons. You stating all one needs is a positive antibody test and something as little as having thrush to have AIDS is incorrect.

RapidRod: http://aids.about.com/od/themostcommonquestions/f/defining.htm Thrush is the first one mentioned. It is an AIDS defining condtion. Mecch: This young man and I conversed. He told me that he is HIV positive but doesn't have AIDS. I questioned him about it after viewing his video stating that he has full blown AIDS. He wanted to be dramatic and bring attention to his condition.

No. Thrush, in the traditional sense, is oral candidiasis -- a relatively benign yeast infection of the mucus membrane lining of the mouth and tongue (or vaginal thrush -- vaginal yeast infections). It's not an AIDS-defining illness and can happen in those with intact immune systems (it's quite common, actually, in people taking antibiotics). Candidiasis of the bronchi, trachea or lungs is a much more invasive and serious condition and pretty much only occurs in those with compromised immune systems -- this is quite different than the oral (or vaginal) thrush that most people refer to.

He told me that he is HIV positive but doesn't have AIDS. I questioned him about it after viewing his video stating that he has full blown AIDS. He wanted to be dramatic and bring attention to his condition.

having had a true AIDS diagnosis myself, and having many friends and partners dead from the same diagnosis, having "full blown" AIDS is not a matter to joke/kid/exaggerate about. It's a deadly serious issue. In my neck of the woods (be it in OH or SC) we call this kid's sort of drama to bring attention to himself "crying wolf"

I have never met anyone so young with a CD4 count of below 200 who was so together, so this falls into the category of (ahem) viral marketing PSA. Rather cynically done one too. These efforts make no difference in my experience, cos a hot dick is a hot dick for 15 mins (or whatever was in the needle). But truth on the Interweb is a hard thing to assure. Very hard. I am more than prepared to give the benefit of the doubt, in which case, good luck, get off Youtube and get well mr. In a big way I sincerely hope my doubt is wrong. No-one aged 19 should discover they have AIDS. It's a fucking bum rap.

I think it was real and sounded quite yummy. Still, it was probably no more than your run o'da mill common cold.

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"I have tried hard--but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person. I can hardly be said to have an independent existence. I was just a screw or a cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else."

Oh and as for the guy I watched 1.5 videos before I just couldn't take it anymore. He's mispronouncing every word with more than 3 syllables and he's also spreading some misinformation albeit not necessarily on purpose. He could have contracted the virus either at a young age (say 14-16) and then progressed to AIDS in a few years or maybe he had a recent infection and got a single snapshot of a low CD4 count sub 200. Anyway I'm sure his heart is in the right place, but what's with the ominous music? I assume he's trying to make the subject matter seem scarier, but all it did was conflict with HIM as a person. I don't think any kid who wasn't positive would want to get on the net and proclaim he was HIV+ much less with AIDS, but who knows.

Invite him to the forums and feel him out if he wants to share. The more the merrier here.